“Troy is on the march. Fifty archers8 and a hundred men-at-arms. They have cannon9 with them. We can eat them up, lordings all.”
Such was the news, and the Forest captains rose to it, and set their trumpets10 blowing. But Roger Bland was no such facile fool. Sir Gregory’s scouts had watched Troy Castle, and the roads leading to it; they had reported faithfully, counted their men with honest precision, accurately11 judged the enemy’s strength. Yet no one appeared to remember that there might be another cloud in the sky, hidden from them by the tree-tops and the hills. My Lord of Troy had blundered, belittled12 the forces against him! He had marched out and camped for the night on Bracknell Plain with his cannon and a hundred and fifty men. That was how Sir Gregory and his captains viewed it, and they rushed out to attack my Lord of Troy, meaning to catch him on the march.
Roger Bland had not hurried himself. He was still camped on Bracknell Plain, though the sun had been up some hours. And that camp of his was very cunningly placed, with three great open woods sending out leafy capes13 within a quarter of a mile of it, good cover for an ambuscade. His camp had a rampart of brushwood and sharp stakes; his cannon were loaded and ready, the gunners lying beside them; his archers squatted14 behind the brushwood; gentlemen and men-at-arms were in full harness and ready to mass their spears. The horses were tethered outside the camp, half a furlong away; a sharp look-out was being kept. My Lord of Troy had baited his trap and sat down to wait for his prey15.
It was a league and a half from Woodmere to the edge of Bracknell Plain, and Sir Gregory had halted his companies under cover of a heathy hill and waited for his riders to come in. John Falconer had the rear-guard, and Sir Gregory jogged back to speak with him, and to look with lustful16 eyes at a woman who was very beautiful.
“We should have good news, John. And how doth our sweet Mistress like the morning?”
Mellis had dismounted and was sitting in the heather, white, dark-eyed, and sullen17, holding herself proudly because of these men and of the shame they had put upon her.
She did not look at Sir Gregory, or answer him.
“Tut, tut! Our sweet comrade is still wroth with us, John. Women are unreasonable18.”
“News, sir—news!”
“Out with it.”
“My Lord of Troy is still camped on Bracknell Plain. They have not stirred, sir. Their horses are unharnessed, their sentries22 pushed out no farther than a furlong.”
“Ye gods! This Roger Bland was never a soldier. Why, we shall be on them before they can get to horse. Come, sirs, come.”
Away in the woods Martin Valliant was seeing strange things. He had followed the march of Sir Gregory’s men from Woodmere, and when they had reached the rolling heaths that led up to Bracknell Plain, he had drawn23 away among the pine thickets24 so that he could watch them without being seen. His course had led him toward one of those strips of woodland that jutted25 out into the plain toward my Lord of Troy’s camp, an open wood of beeches26 and Scots firs. The place seemed silent and empty, full of deep shadows and splashes of sunlight that played on the bracken and the trunks of the trees.
Then of a sudden he saw something that made him drop down in the bracken like a bird when a hawk27 is hovering28 overhead. A knight29 in armor was riding his horse through the wood. He reined30 in and remained motionless, spear on thigh31, red plume32 trailing under the branches. He wore a red tabard embroidered33 with gold; his horse’s harness was of red leather studded with brass34; his spear was painted black, and a bunch of white roses had been tied to its throat.
Martin, lying flat on his belly35, grew aware of a strange, tremulous stirring in the deeps of the wood. It was as though some great monster were moving, ponderous36 and slow, the earth and the trees quivering as it moved. There was a shrilling37 of steel and the snorting of horses. The knight in the red tabard held up his spear, and the wood seemed to grow silent.
Martin had blundered into the midst of a mystery. He crawled backwards38 through the bracken, keeping his eyes on the knight in the red tabard; but that gentleman was staring through a woodland window out upon Bracknell Plain, and Martin Valliant escaped unseen.
He lay for a while in a little dell, resting his chin on his hands, and staring at the seed pods of the wild hyacinths that had carpeted the ground. The wood remained silent, save for the screaming of a couple of jays, yet Martin guessed that the red knight was no solitary39 adventurer, but the leader of a great company that was lying hidden among the trees.
What of Sir Gregory and the men of the Red Rose? Were they pushing blindly into an ambush40, and if so—what would come of it? A grim impartiality41 guided Martin’s thoughts; he cared not which beast devoured42 the other, provided Mellis was not harmed; he was a thief ready to snatch the precious plunder43 while these gentry44 fought. The inspiration was obvious, and stirred him to action. He crawled to the edge of the wood, followed it southwards for a short distance, chose a tall fir, and swarmed45 up it, leaving his club lying in the grass.
The tree forked above thirty feet from the ground, and Martin wriggled46 up and out along one of the limbs till he was part of the pine needles, like a crow in its nest. The fir gave him a superb view. He could see nearly the whole of Bracknell Plain, my Lord of Troy’s camp, even Sir Gregory’s troops massed in the hollow behind the hill. This live map puzzled him for a moment; he was thinking of the red knight in the wood, a sinister47 figure, the wizard who could conjure48 forth49 a dragon of steel.
Martin had his eyes on Sir Gregory’s forces, when he saw one of the columns push forward up the hill with a scattering50 of dark figures running on ahead. Sir Gregory was sending on his archers to sow arrows and disorder51 in my lord’s sluggish52 camp. The gentry and men-at-arms followed at a walk, moving on the farther side of the footmen, and ready to break into a charge when the archers had done their work. Last of all came Mellis’s guard, a knot of steel-clad figures with Falconer and Mellis in the midst.
Martin turned his eyes on my Lord of Troy’s camp. It looked amazingly still and unconcerned, the sentries standing53 to their arms in the midst of the heather. This carelessness seemed astonishing to the man who was watching those armed masses surging up the blind side of the hill. But the very foolishness of that seemingly casual camp flashed the meaning of it all into Martin Valliant’s mind. It was not my Lord of Troy who was in dire54 peril55, but those hot heads who were streaming to the attack.
For many a year the Forest had good cause to remember the battle of Bracknell Plain. It began with the rush of Sir Gregory’s archers over the hill, and a rattling56 shower of arrows into my Lord of Troy’s camp. Yet these arrows did but little damage, for the White Rose bowmen had thrown up a wall of sods behind the line of brushwood and were lying under cover, while the heavily armed knights57 and gentry could trust in their harness. The foresters fired flight after flight of arrows into the camp, shouting and leaping like madmen, for not an arrow shot came in return.
Sir Gregory, who rode over the hill with his men-at-arms, saw his archers shooting furiously, and heard them cheering as though the victory were won. He did not pause to consider the question, but thinking my Lord of Troy’s men too panic-stricken even to run to their horses, he set his riders at the gallop6 and charged down upon the camp. His footmen were to follow and to end the business when he and his “spears” had broken in and scattered58 the enemy.
Then Martin saw puffs59 of blue smoke belch60 out from behind the brushwood, and heard the roar of my lord’s cannon. The archers sprang to their feet and poured a flight of arrows into the charging “horse.” The cannon shot tore into the mass; the arrows struck the horses. A great confusion followed, as of a wave of water meeting a wall; horses and men were down; the whole company faltered61, broke, tangled62 itself into a whirl of disorder. Arrows came stinging down on them, for the shooting was fast and easy so far as my Lord of Troy’s archers were concerned.
A thunder of hoofs63 in the wood behind him, a screaming of trumpets, and out galloped the red knight with a torrent64 of steel at his back. The charge was superb, terrible, carried out like a whirlwind. It bore down on Sir Gregory’s disorder, crashed through and over it, wheeled, and headed for the mass of footmen who had halted in a palsied crowd on the edge of the plain. My lord’s archers and footmen were running out to complete the overthrow65 of Sir Gregory’s horse, to cut throats and to take prisoners.
The battle was over in twenty minutes; it became a wild slaughter66, a scattering of death and despair over Bracknell Plain. Sir Gregory’s “foot” had turned and run, throwing down their weapons as they fled over the heather. And Martin Valliant had come swarming67 down his tree, picked up his club, and started to run toward the rout68 as though he had lost his senses.
He had seen John Falconer and his men-at-arms halt on the open plain and stand watching the battle as though it was neither their business to fight nor to fly. None the less, the disastrous69 issue had pricked70 their consciences; they had moved forward tentatively, faltered, and thought better of such heroism71; moreover, they had a prize to guard, and John Falconer had kept his head. But fate and Fulk de Lisle did not will it that they should escape the slaughter on Bracknell Plain, and Martin had seen the red knight and some fifty of his lances wheel and gallop down on Mellis’s guards. De Lisle’s men opened out and enveloped72 the little group before it could escape over the edge of the plain.
That was the reason of Martin Valliant’s madness and his wild dash across the heather. Fortune was with him in a sense, for he came through the butchery and the turmoil73 without being struck down by my Lord of Troy’s men. There was a space of calmness between the main rout and the fight that was going on between John Falconer and De Lisle, but the tussle74 was over before Martin drew near. Falconer lay dying from a spear thrust through the body; his men were down or had surrendered; De Lisle’s riders tossed their spears and cheered.
Then Martin saw a sight that made him stand stone still and set his teeth. The group of steel-coated figures parted, and from the midst of them came riding the red knight, leading a white horse by the bridle75. Martin Valliant saw Mellis drooping76 in the saddle, her hair falling over her face, her hands hanging as though she despaired.
The red knight did not turn toward my lord’s camp, but rode calmly away over the plain toward the woods in the distance. No one followed him or the woman on the white horse. His men knew that Fulk de Lisle was not to be meddled77 with when he followed the chase and the game was a stag or a woman.
Martin Valliant started running again, his face all white and twisted. But a certain cunning saved him from throwing his life and his hope away. He doubled sharply under the brow of the hill, caught a riderless horse that was standing nosing the heather, mounted, and urged the beast to a canter, keeping to the lower ground out of sight of the riders from Troy.
When he was well clear he turned upwards78 on to Bracknell Plain, the reins79 in one hand, his hollywood staff in the other. The white horse and the red tabard showed a mile away over the heather, and Martin followed them with the grimness of death.
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1
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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2
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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bullying
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| v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈 | |
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bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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5
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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archers
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| n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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10
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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11
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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12
belittled
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| 使显得微小，轻视，贬低( belittle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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14
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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15
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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16
lustful
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| a.贪婪的；渴望的 | |
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17
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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18
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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19
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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20
flayed
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| v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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21
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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22
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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23
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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24
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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25
jutted
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| v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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26
beeches
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| n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材 | |
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27
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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28
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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29
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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30
reined
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| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
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31
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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32
plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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33
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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34
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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35
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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36
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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37
shrilling
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| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的现在分词 )； 凄厉 | |
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38
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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39
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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40
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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41
impartiality
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| n. 公平, 无私, 不偏 | |
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42
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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43
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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44
gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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45
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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46
wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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47
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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48
conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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49
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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50
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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51
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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52
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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53
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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54
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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55
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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56
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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57
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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58
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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59
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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60
belch
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| v.打嗝，喷出 | |
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61
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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62
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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63
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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64
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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65
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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66
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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67
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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68
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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69
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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70
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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71
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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72
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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tussle
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| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
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75
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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76
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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77
meddled
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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78
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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